With games like Civilization and XCOM, Firaxis made a name for itself in strategy games with in-depth mechanics and systems nearly unrivaled in any other strategy game or genre. It is these in-depth mechanics that make each turn feel like a puzzle players have to solve, with just enough randomness that the best-laid plans can go awry. Marvel's Midnight Suns takes these very familiar elements and doubles down on them, if in directions perhaps no one really expected.
Marvel's Midnight Suns recently got a new trailer as part of the D23 Expo's Disney and Marvel Games Showcase, with Game ZXC also speaking to creative director Jake Solomon and franchise producer Garth DeAngelis afterward. As many know, the game was recently delayed but PC and current-gen consoles got a new release date at the show. This is because Firaxis wants to make sure everything across the board is up to snuff, and there are tons of nooks and crannies that Firaxis has never really had to explore before. Tactical combat is at the game's core, but there are plenty of other areas in the social RPG that the team is also focused on.
The fact that Marvel's Midnight Suns is a social RPG sets it apart from games like XCOM, while the combat itself had to be approached differently. XCOM's tactics worked because everyone was a fallible soldier; superheroes, by default, are not necessarily "fallible.
Heroes can be injured, but they cannot be killed. Heroes couldn't miss with their powers and attacks without pulling away from the hero fantasy associated with Marvel's Midnight Suns, so Firaxis had to look at it from another angle while making sure heroes came across as tough as they do on the big screen. Tackling every part of this hero fantasy means that there are more gameplay systems compared than games like XCOM, simply because the game grew throughout its development with Firaxis going as deep as it could on everything it could. As DeAngelis described it,
"There are so many deep systems in this game. Yeah, even compared to XCOM when you look on the Abbey side and all the things you can do to customize your base to modify your heroes."
Solomon didn't mince words here, following up by saying, "We've never said that, but it's true. There are more systems." This may sound hard to believe for XCOM fans, but from Game ZXC's experience, this seems to be true. Game ZXC has previously checked out a four-hour hands-on preview of Marvel's Midnight Suns, where there were social elements to enjoy and choices to be made, cards to sort and improve, builds to perfect for each Midnight Suns character, training with Blade to be had, enhancements by Doctor Strange and Iron Man to be done, Abbey grounds to be explored, Abbey improvements to be made, and far more. What's clear, from Firaxis' words and our experience, is that the same amount of detail paid to XCOM has been paid to every element of Marvel's Midnight Suns, and there's more to Midnight Suns than XCOM. It's an impressive feat, something Firaxis is determined to get right.
What's worth remembering is also that we only played four hours of the game. As players move through Marvel's Midnight Suns' story and improve hub area of the Abbey, more and more systems will unlock, and the game will continue to push more and more systems onto players as time goes on. It's not all dumped on players in the first hours, but there's still plenty for XCOM fans to lose themselves in and for new fans to thoroughly enjoy.
Marvel's Midnight Suns releases December 2 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions will release at a later, undetermined date.
